Waukee Community School District Receives Finance Awards
The Waukee Community School District (WCSD) was awarded the Meritorious Budget Award (MBA) for FY17 and the Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting by The Association of School Business Officials (ASBO) for FY16.
These awards reflect the district’s ability to exceed the standards for financial reporting and accountability and the commitment to fiscal management and budget policies.
The ASBO is an organization of over 5,000 members providing programs and services to advocate high standards of school business management practices, professional growth and use of effective educational resources.
The MBA promotes and recognizes excellence in school budget presentation and enhances school business officials’ skills in developing, analyzing and presenting a school system budget.
The District has been challenged in recent years and for the foreseeable future as the State continues to underfund public education. WCSD works to manage the day to day operations with a constant look at the five-year forecasting model.
“We make decisions timely and in a way that allows us to plan ahead,” said chief financial officer, Lora Appenzeller-Miller. “These awards show the commitment that the WCSD has to financial transparency and fiscal responsibility of taxpayer funds.”
The Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting was given to WCSD because of their ability to meet or exceed the ASBO programs’ standards for financial reporting and accountability.
“We work closely with our auditors to complete the annual audit report,” said director of business services, Tim Bloom. “This report is a review from an outside organization and is considered the gold standard for school financial reporting. We include in the report a transmittal letter and statistical section, which is not found in a normal audit report.”
Recognition from these programs can help strengthen a district’s presentation for bond issuance statements and promotes high-quality financial reporting.
WCSD also received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for FY17 and Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for FY16. These awards are the highest form of recognition in governmental budgeting and reporting.
